Bucharest vs Lisbon - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Bucharest	Lisbon
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1138	$1953
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$2971	$4376
🏠 One person rent	$535	$1262
🏘️ Family rent	$931	$2117
🍽️ Food expenses	$389	$437
🚐 Transport expenses	$84.2	$104
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$1467	$1562
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	8 km
🎓 Higher education	78	93
😀 Quality of life	84	83
🏙️ Population	1.72M	546K

The cost of living in Bucharest is 42% less expensive than in Lisbon. Cities ranked 4935th and 2184th ($1138 vs $1953) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 2nd in Romania and Portugal, respectively. Check Romania vs Portugal comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in Bucharest compared to 0.8 months in Lisbon. Bucharest ranked 1st best city to live in Romania vs Lisbon ranked 2nd in Portugal, while ranked 508th and 574th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Bucharest vs Lisbon

Prices for goods and services in Bucharest and Lisbon are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Bucharest	Lisbon
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$12.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$57.2	$53.2
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.13	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.53	$3.35
☕ Cappuccino	$3.56	$3.54
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.41	$2.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$586	$1398
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$385	$1036
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1055	$2497
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$699	$1754
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$99.4	$118
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$179
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$10.4	$35.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	7.13%	3.5%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4123	$7753
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2286	$4450
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.96	$2.35
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.9	$46.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$6.84	$14
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.76	$2.08
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.66	$1.2
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.08	$1.75
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$1.62
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.75	$4.18
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.2	$12.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.76	$8.52
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.7	$16.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.38	$2.27
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$1.82
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.06
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.5
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$1.92
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$2
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.62	$0.6
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.33	$2.92
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$7.76	$6.97
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.22	$1.32
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.73	$6.94
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.02	$7.88
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.79	$4.21
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.77	$2.01
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.11	$2.47
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.8	$47
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$8.67	$9.07
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$69.3	$84.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$11.2	$15.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$86.8	$107
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$769	$641
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16525	$16697

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Bucharest

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.3 mi	Voluntari	$999
56 km or 35 mi	Giurgiu	$956
60 km or 37 mi	Ploiesti	$926
62 km or 39 mi	Ruse	$784
77 km or 48 mi	Targoviste	$800
77 km or 48 mi	Alexandria	$724
102 km or 63 mi	Buzau	$831
102 km or 63 mi	Calarasi	$758
103 km or 64 mi	Slobozia	$777
108 km or 67 mi	Pitesti	$970
137 km or 85 mi	Slatina	$695
143 km or 89 mi	Shumen	$666
144 km or 90 mi	Brasov	$1150
151 km or 94 mi	Veliko Tarnovo	$759
156 km or 97 mi	Ramnicu Valcea	$826
161 km or 100 mi	Pleven	$704
164 km or 102 mi	Sfantu Gheorghe	$732
168 km or 104 mi	Dobrich	$805
168 km or 105 mi	Focsani	$910
177 km or 110 mi	Braila	$871
180 km or 112 mi	Craiova	$983
181 km or 112 mi	Gabrovo	$665
192 km or 119 mi	Galati	$950
192 km or 119 mi	Sliven	$607
198 km or 123 mi	Varna	$1099
203 km or 126 mi	Mamaia	$1062
205 km or 127 mi	Constanta	$1132
216 km or 134 mi	Yambol	$644
217 km or 135 mi	Sibiu	$840
223 km or 138 mi	Stara Zagora	$716
232 km or 144 mi	Tulcea	$916
233 km or 145 mi	Targu Jiu	$844
236 km or 146 mi	Cahul	$864
237 km or 147 mi	Barlad	$841
238 km or 148 mi	Medias	$738
239 km or 148 mi	Burgas	$872
243 km or 151 mi	Vratsa	$763
251 km or 156 mi	Bacau	$773
260 km or 161 mi	Vidin	$683
267 km or 166 mi	Targu Mures	$795

Cities near Lisbon

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.6 mi	Almada	$1697
6.9 km or 4.3 mi	Amadora	$1529
8.8 km or 5.5 mi	Queluz	$1532
9.4 km or 5.8 mi	Odivelas	$1553
10 km or 6.3 mi	Barreiro	$1467
11 km or 6.7 mi	Amora	$1348
12 km or 7.3 mi	Seixal	$1416
12 km or 7.4 mi	Oeiras	$1806
13 km or 8 mi	Agualva-Cacem	$1568
13 km or 8.1 mi	Loures	$1540
17 km or 10 mi	Montijo	$1697
18 km or 11 mi	Moita	$1520
18 km or 11 mi	Algueirao-Mem Martins	$1561
21 km or 13 mi	Sintra	$1616
22 km or 14 mi	Cascais	$1720
28 km or 17 mi	Mafra	$1540
29 km or 18 mi	Palmela	$1470
30 km or 19 mi	Vila Franca de Xira	$1254
31 km or 19 mi	Sesimbra	$1349
32 km or 20 mi	Setubal	$1469
39 km or 24 mi	Alenquer	$1417
42 km or 26 mi	Torres Vedras	$1636
42 km or 26 mi	Benavente	$1401
47 km or 29 mi	Azambuja	$1383
47 km or 29 mi	Salvaterra de Magos	$1389
58 km or 36 mi	Cartaxo	$1292
61 km or 38 mi	Lourinha	$1537
71 km or 44 mi	Santarem	$1214
72 km or 45 mi	Almeirim	$1239
73 km or 45 mi	Peniche	$1697
77 km or 48 mi	Caldas da Rainha	$1390
90 km or 56 mi	Santiago do Cacem	$1460
94 km or 58 mi	Alcobaca	$1400
101 km or 63 mi	Torres Novas	$1283
103 km or 64 mi	Porto de Mos	$1366
111 km or 69 mi	Evora	$1411
115 km or 72 mi	Ourem	$1295
117 km or 72 mi	Marinha Grande	$1382
118 km or 73 mi	Tomar	$1066
118 km or 73 mi	Abrantes	$1249